ROSES AND SNAKES AND LAWNMOWERS, OH MY!

This picture does not do the stand of roses justice.

ROSES

Yesterday afternoon, we were walking past the Plank home site – you know, right there where the wild rose has overgrown the old equipment – and something red caught my eye. “Wow!” I said, and then stepping closer, “WOW!” Why had I never seen this before?

There, growing close to the ground, semi-hidden behind a screen of tall grass, was a profusion of red roses in various stages of maturity, buds to blooms. It was dramatic, like when the scene goes from black and white to full color in The Wizard of Oz. The fragrance was wonderful.

So, I messaged my sister Harriet, my “go-to” authority for all things vintage and country, as follows: “On our walk this evening, I noticed a profusion of wild roses at Plank's that I have never seen before. You know how the ordinary wild rose is a bramble, but these are close to the ground. The blossoms are red and quite large. They were spread through quite an area there at the Plank home site. Do you know anything about such roses?”

And she wrote back that she had never seen wild roses that were red. “That sounds like a domestic climber that might have survived in the wild,” she said.

I was curious as to what I had said that made her think it was a domestic climbing rose, and she replied: “You gave me good clues on the rose.  It was on a home site and was growing along the ground.  Climbers do that if they don’t have anything to climb.” 

I assumed they were wild because I just couldn’t imagine that they have been there blooming all these years without my spying them. And I didn’t think a domestic rose could survive without care. It appears they have been spreading in that place for some time.

So, this morning Mike and I went over and dug out a clump and transplanted them to the front of the farmhouse. Yes, I know – this isn’t the time to transplant a rose, but we’ll see. If it doesn’t work, we’re not out anything but effort. We can try again if we want to.

SNAKES

“Bark bark bark -- bark bark bark.” It was Bess and the tone was urgent.

“It could be a rattlesnake,” said Mike, and we both dashed for doors.

Bess was beside herself near Mike’s shed, and then I could hear it rattling. Being a hunting dog, once Bess knows the master’s presence, her instinct is to creep closer, so our first effort was to control her. Then Mike spotted and removed the snake.

We have seen nine rattlesnakes this season, beginning May 10. Never have we seen so many snakes in one season, let alone just one month. On Thursday, the girls have a date with their vet for rattlesnake vaccinations.

LAWNMOWERS

Once Mike heard about Dan’s John Deere X300 lawnmower, he had to have a John Deere, too.

Well, it’s fun to say, but in reality, we didn’t shop for this mower. Mike didn’t like some of the features of the re-built Yard Machine of two weeks ago, so discussion ensued with our lawnmower mechanic, resulting in this old re-built John Deere 180 coming our way. The rest is Mike’s story, but he did say, “It was the Cadillac of its day. It will get me through this summer, and maybe you’re right that I should get a new one.” Yes!!! KW

FRIDGE SAGA DEEPENS

Let’s see. When last I discussed our new Kenmore refrigerator (model 73132), which has cooling issues, we had decided to return it as suggested by the service tech who missed the scheduled repair appointment. He said that I had 90 days to return it if I was unhappy with it. So, last Saturday (June 6), Mike and I shopped a Lewiston appliance dealership for a possible replacement. But, as I thought about it, I realized that Sears was not going to easily acquiesce to a return. Repair would be their focus. I put off making the call until I could use our land line on Friday, June 12.

“To whom do I have the pleasure of speaking?” said the rep. I wasn’t placated; this call would not be a pleasure. I told her that I wanted to return our new Kenmore refrigerator because it doesn’t cool properly. She said that I couldn’t return it because I was outside the 30-day customer satisfaction period. I pointed out that when I began the complaint process I was within the 30-day period. She was unmoved. They no longer honor a 90-day grace period, she said. (They should tell the tech.) She could only offer repair.

“I’ve been this route,” I said, getting testier. “I even have the parts you shipped to me. But the tech didn’t come during the agreed-to four-hour time slot, and I couldn’t wait any longer for him.”

“By the way,” she said, “I’d like to offer you the extended warranty.”

“Oh no you don’t!” I said firmly. “This is a brand new appliance, and Sears should stand behind it. Don’t even talk to me about your expensive extended warranty.”

“Okay now, Mrs. Warnock,” she said, taking a different approach as per her training. “I need you to answer some questions about the refrigerator. Has it been set to manufacturer’s specified settings for at least 24 hours?”

Now I’m furious because I figure she has all this info at her fingertips from the last time I called. “We have to keep it at the lowest possible settings and it NEVER gets below 40,” I said, struggling to keep calm. She agreed that temp wasn’t acceptable. “Is it just the refrigerator or is it also the freezer,” she asked.

“How would I know,” I retorted. “The freezer is set at -3 and never shows lower than zero.”

“Okay – so it’s the freezer, too,” she said. “Does the unit run all the time or just some of the time?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “It’s quiet and I’m not aware of what it’s doing.”

We were both tired of the call, I’m sure. She said she could schedule the repair for Thursday. Did I want 1:00 to 5:00 or 3:00 to 6:00? I said 1:00 to 5:00 and he’d better be here at 1:00. I was amazed when she said all right. And she said she hoped the rest of my day went better, as if this was all somehow my fault.

“I like the way you did that!” said Mike, but I sat down and hyperventilated for ten minutes. Then, not being a drinking person, I opened a sack of potato chips and ate a cookie.

An hour later the phone rang and Mike answered. Turning to me, he reported, “That was Sears. The repair is scheduled between 1:00 and 5:00. No guarantee on when he’ll actually show up. He’ll call an hour before he comes.”

Sears wants us to pay $550 for extended warrantees on our four new appliances. What do you think? Should we buy into this racket? Or play the odds and perhaps come out losers? KW

Geocaching the North Woods

Well, maybe not THE north woods but at least the woods on the north side of the Clearwater River.  The Clearwater River runs east to west through a deep valley rising steeply 2,000 above the river on each side.  On the south side after rising through the timber the terrain opens to the Camas Prairie’s rolling hills.  On the north side there is just more timber for the most part.  Farming on the south side, logging on the north side.  The north side is interspersed with numerous logging roads and trails. 

The Lewiston-Clarkston Valley where we winter seems to have been saturated with geocaches because there haven’t been any new ones in many months.  As I have found about all of the ones there that I can, I have been anxious for the opportunity to find some new ones.  Happily I found that there are many in the Orofino and Clearwater County area that I haven’t found, virtually all on unpaved roads.

Most of my motorcycling friends began their riding as kids on dirt bikes.  I don’t have that advantage as I didn’t begin riding until I was 58 years old and then it was on a street bike.  My dad rode motorcycles as a youngster and told me as a teen in no uncertain terms, “Son, don’t even think about asking for a motorcycle”.  As my need for speed was then satisfied with cars and boats it was no sacrifice.  I hardly think motorcycling could have dealt me more injuries and damage than boating did, but that’s another story.

At any rate, Tuesday morning, June 9^th, I set out to find a number of these caches on my motorbike.  There were 22 that I had in my sights.  After descending the Gilbert Grade to Orofino from our farm I stopped to top off my gas tank.  It was then that I discovered that one of the two set screws holding my windshield in place was gone.  They tighten on two vertical rods that pass through a sleeve held secure by the set screws.  So now the windshield is resting on the cowl instead of being suspended ½ inch above.  On hindsight I should have gone to a hardware store and got another bolt.  I guess no harm was done because it survived the trip with just a few scuffs on the cowl.

Triple tree

And there it is.

The first caches I had targeted were on dirt roads off of the paved Grangemont road that intersects Highway 11 between Pierce and Headquarters.  I rely on my Garmin maps that are loaded on chips in my GPS as well as the hard copies I can print from my computer.  I had no trouble finding the locations for the first four caches although I could actually find only two of them.  I took a picture of the first one whose hint was “Triple tree”.  These are quite a ways back in the woods and had not been found in over two years so I would like to think they are actually missing rather than I was just not able to find them.  The fifth cache on my list presents a good example of the fallibility of these maps.  They kept leading me to roads or trails that were blocked.  No matter how hard I tried I could not get any closer to the cache than 3.11 miles – too far to hike given my time constraints.  The next cache was back on a main road and the only one on pavement.  It had not been found in a year and a half and I couldn’t find it either.

Approaching the mine site.

Opening the cache.

The next cache was far back in the woods on Cow Creek Road and I had to travel a long way to get there.  It had not been found in three years so I wasn’t overly optimistic especially given my luck so far.  It was at an old mine site where they crushed rocks. I discovered that the cache was found by some hunters (not geocachers, so it wasn’t logged) in Sept of 2013 and they left some rather unconventional items in it such as a crushed beer can, piece of bone and some Powerbar Blasts along with a nice note. And the container was just lying out in the open. I removed the Powerbar Blasts and rehid the container. It was a real nice spot, so much so that I had my lunch break there.

Inside pump house

The next cache was just off Highway 11 at the site of the old Jaype plywood mill that was closed and dismantled about 15 years ago.  It was at the old pump house which still had all the original pumps and engines inside.

Mill pond.

My next goal was a series of 14 caches on Upper Ford’s Creek Road accessed near Weippe on Highway 11.  The next map fiasco occurred when I took a recommended road that turned off the highway and went behind the school.  It was a washed out dried mud road that after about a mile and a half terminated, at least for me, at a locked gate.  So I backtracked and took another road further down the highway that eventually got me to Upper Ford’s Creek.

Upper Ford's Creek Rd

Now the fellow that placed these caches is undoubtedly a good and well meaning sort but I have had a lot of trouble finding his caches in the past.  Some of the coordinates are accurate but many are not.  Most of these caches were placed along the road only about 1/10 of a mile apart so there was a lot of jumping on and off my bike.  One of the fourteen I didn’t even attempt because some better finders than I am had been unsuccessful.  Of the other thirteen I found only eight

A road less traveled.

Now the fun began.  At the last cache there was an intersecting road that would take me back to Highway 11 according to the map.  The further I traveled on it the worse the road got until I got to a three way intersection with a gate across the one I was supposed to take.  However, the sign said vehicles less than 50” wide could use it and there was room enough for me to go around.  Here’s where my better judgment should have prevailed in which case I would have backtracked and gone back the way I got there.  But not old Mickey, he’s up for adventure.  GPS not withstanding I traveled many miles getting more and more lost.  Little roads/trails were everywhere twisting up and down hills with the ones the map advised either nonexistent or blocked.  I did get some good practice on my off road riding however.  Finally I came across a road with good gravel that I reasoned must lead to civilization.  And indeed it did – saved again.

There was just one more cache on my list which was east of Weippe.  It was at a bird viewing stand overlooking a beautiful meadow.  After some searching I was able to find it.

 

Now to get home.  I got back to the highway and made my way down the Greer Grade which was about the most fun of the whole trip.  It’s a great motorcycle road with about 8 miles of twists and switchbacks descending about 2,000 feet down to the Clearwater River.  Now, I wanted to take a short cut and go up the old dirt Greer Grade on the other side of Highway 12 that would take me to Russell Ridge Road not too far from the farm.  However, this grade is a bit obscure from the highway and I took the wrong one.  It kept getting steeper and more washed out until it finally exceeded my skill.  I did a 180 degree spin out and got dumped off the right side of my bike getting a two inch gash on my left shin in the process.  I picked myself and the bike up, turned around and proceeded up the hill soon coming to a sawmill which told me I was on the wrong road.  So with tail between my legs I eased back down to the highway and rode into Orofino ascending the Gilbert Grade the way I had come.  I got home a little before 6:00 pm having traveled 165 miles. This outing resulted in the highest percentage of DNF's (did not find) than any I've done.

The next morning upon getting out of bed I had many sore and stiff parts but after taking the dogs on a mile hike about 6:15 I wasn’t any worse than usual.  M/W

MUST BE SUMMER

HELLO FROM GILBERT, IDAHO

When we fenced “the flower garden” over Memorial Day weekend, I thought I’d have a few weeks to weed and remove sod before it got really hot. Not so! It’s hot now, and I can’t seem to get outside early enough of a morning to beat the heat.

Suddenly it’s summer. The rules of coping in summer are perhaps not as important as the rules of winter but should be obeyed for comfort. Outdoor work should be done in the cool of the morning. Windows must be closed by 9:00 a.m. and not re-opened until the cool of the evening. No baking! 

Animal report:

To date, we have seen only a few hummingbirds. I make just a cup of nectar every other day or so, and the feeder is never drained.

"Hi Hallie," says Nellie.

Sunday evening, we saw a cow elk where our lane curves up to the road – down where the apple trees are. A small whitetail doe seems to frequent that area. As always, we see the occasional deer. They are wary of Bess, I think, and sort of skirt around the yard.

Rattlesnakes are plentiful, as Ina says. We seem to have some sort of tall grass explosion, which makes me more anxious than in previous years about our safety. With the tall grass, ticks are also a problem.

Vegetation report:

The wild roses are in bloom everywhere here. Though beautiful with blossoms ranging from light pink/white to deep rose, I see more bushes every year, and like blackberry bushes, they can over-run other more desirable vegetation. I’d like to try to slip a couple of unusual wild roses in the area -- a dark pink (almost red) and the yellow one on the road.

The farmer came in yesterday to spray herbicide on the fields. I always hope our trees and plantings will survive that. I planted two tomato plants and also some green peppers in the raised beds, and they appear to be thriving. The spinach made such a poor showing that I raked it out and planted yellow crook-neck. I have zucchini here and there. Don’t laugh – some years I have to buy it despite my efforts to grow it.

Cherry tree

The new sweet cherry tree looks good in its location behind the woodshed. I’m already in negotiation with Mike to prepare that area as a small orchard. The “Honey Crisp” tree in the grove is less happy. It was “bare root” stock and looked sparse to begin with. The Montmorency pie cherry tree, planted five years ago, looks healthy, but the cherries may be sparse again this year. I’ve been pulling weeds and grass out of the raspberry patch and watering more deeply.

Otherwise . . .

I’ve done a little sewing – an outfit for Rosabell (so much fun!) and a whole lot of work on Mike’s old crop of jeans (not so fun). I’ve patched those with new holes and made cut-offs of those already patched with new holes in the patches. Sometimes I wonder if mending is worth it because Mike doesn't pay much for jeans in the first place. Some old habits of frugality don't translate well into the modern world.

And – I’ve been learning to use Pinterest, yet another form of computer addiction. I tell myself it’s better than other forms of addiction. KW